This initial submission for an institutional training grant is aimed at providing research training for postdoctoral trainees who will pursue careers related to critical care. The training program will be jointly based in the newly formed Emory Center for Critical Care and in the Department of Surgery at the Emory University School of Medicine. It will be multidisciplinary in nature, with faculty from the Departments of Surgery, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Biochemistry participating in the training program. The training program is two years of length, and all applicants must have a graduate level degree (MD, PhD or equivalent). The philosophy of this training program is translational science founded upon strong collaborations among clinicians and investigators. The program director/principal investigator is Craig Coopersmith, Professor of Surgery at Emory University and the Associate Director of the Emory Center for Critical Care. The PI/PD will interface closely with an executive committee made up of Timothy Buchman, PhD, MD (Professor of Surgery, Director Emory Center for Critical Care), Thomas Ziegler, MD (Professor of Medicine, Co-Program Director, Research Education, Training and Career Development Core, Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute) and Greg Martin, MD (Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Division Director for Critical Care, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care). The program has 8 additional mentors from multiple departments, with widely varying research interests in domains related to critical care ranging from oxidative stress to acute lung injury to implementation science in the intensive care unit. The program has been designed to mimic the broad scope of critical care by giving trainees access to mentors with expertise in basic science, translational and clinical research. There are opportunities that span the entire age range of critical illness - from neonates to geriatrics. To provide a diverse set of opportunities, mentors are based at the following-types of hospitals in the Atlanta area - academic (Emory University Hospital), community (Emory University Hospital Midtown), public (Grady Memorial Hospital), federally-funded (Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center), and children's (Children's Hospital of Atlanta at Egleston). Ultimately, the research training program is designed to reflect the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of clinical critical care and to develop independent researchers dedicated to improving the outcomes of patients in the intensive care unit. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: As the population ages, more and more patients are cared for in intensive care units. However, there is a growing gap between the rapidly expanding need for critical care services and both the workforce needed to take care of critically ill patients and the researchers needed to discover new insights to improve outcomes in the intensive care unit. This institutional training grant is aimed at bridging this gap by providing research training for individuals who will pursue careers related to critical care.